Essay Example on How do you think the African American slaves were Treated

My master come after I was whipped he discharged the overseer My master was not present I don t remember the whipping I was two months in bed sore from the whipping and my sense began to come I was sort of crazy I tried to shoot everybody They said so I did not know I did not know that I had attempted to shoot everyone they told me so I burned up all my clothes but I don t remember that I never was this way crazy before I don t know what make me come that way My master come after I was whipped saw me in bed he discharged the overseer They told me I attempted to shoot my wife the first one I did not shoot anyone I did not harm anyone Gordon was soon freed and joined the Union Army as a guide three months after the Emancipation Proclamation allowed for the enrollment of freed slaves into the military forces On one expedition he was taken prisoner by the Confederates they tied him up beat him and left him for dead He survived and once more escaped to Union lines Gordon soon afterwards enlisted in a U S Colored Troops Civil War unit He was said to have fought bravely as a sergeant in the Corps d'Afrique during the Siege of Port Hudson in May 1863 It was the first time that African American soldiers played a leading role in an assault Places the slaves slept Slaves on small farms often slept in the kitchen or an outbuilding and sometimes in small cabins near the farmer's house On larger plantations where there were many slaves they usually lived in small cabins in a slave quarter far from the master's house but under the watchful eye of an overseer Some of the things they ate For plantations weekly food rations usually cornmeal lard some meat molasses peas greens and flour were distributed every Saturday Vegetable patches or gardens if permitted by the owner supplied fresh produce to add to the rations Morning meals were prepared and consumed at daybreak in the slaves cabins